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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25238860">One Good Thing</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/painted_in_ink/pseuds/painted_in_ink'>painted_in_ink</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Ways to Fall in Love With Your Best Friend (A Killervibe Drabble Series) [4]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Killervibe - Fandom, The Flash (TV 2014)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Always, F/M, I really wanted them to get dressed up okay?, Idiots in Love, Mutual Pining, Romance</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-07-13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 03:54:35</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,168</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25238860</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/painted_in_ink/pseuds/painted_in_ink</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>I said to myself if I post this on ao3, it would be be part one of the, “No, Your Honor. I Absolutely Did Not Mean To Charm The Pants Off My Best Friend” Series.</p><p>But seriously, how often can you find ways to get your ship this dressed up to admit their true feelings?</p><p>(Maybe this should be a new series. lol)</p><p> </p><p>For now... I'll put it in my favorite category... You know the one&lt;3</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Cisco Ramon &amp; Caitlin Snow</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Ways to Fall in Love With Your Best Friend (A Killervibe Drabble Series) [4]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1637335</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>One Good Thing</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/Thatkillervibe/gifts">MoonlightShines (Thatkillervibe)</a>.</li>



    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Prompt: Caitlin and Cisco going shopping together with him picking out her clothes. </p><p>And then… Inspiration struck. I’m sorry, but my favorite version of how this went down in my head didn’t exactly follow the script.</p><p>So I finally got around to finishing this! Yay!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Caitlin was rummaging around in the wardrobe once more, and for the third time, she almost emerged with something but turned around and decided to put it back. It was getting a little monotonous, even for Cisco.</p><p> </p><p>Clothing littered the bed where he sat, and he tried not to sigh while he watched her both debate over and struggle physically with the contents of her closet. </p><p> </p><p>Apparently she hadn’t broken a lot of this stuff out in a while.</p><p> </p><p>He picked up a random shoe to inspect it.</p><p> </p><p>“So, remind me what this thing tonight is even for again?”</p><p> </p><p>Somewhere beyond the wall in front of him, Caitlin sighed. </p><p> </p><p>“My mother wants to expose me to more of the medicinal big names at this convention with the hopes that they’ll take an interest in my recent exposure to working with metahumans. Which, I’ve been doing for years, but now the mayor has my phone number for his niece, since Joe took over things at the police station, so. Now is the time to strike, and all that. It’s a political thing.</p><p> </p><p>“Unfortunately,” she said as she emerged in the most striking red dress he’d never seen her wear, “She bought the ticket before I could even argue and I refuse to owe her monetarily out of stubbornness.”</p><p> </p><p>She finished securing the stud earring and looked over at him with hopeful eyes. “How does this one look?”</p><p> </p><p>As opposed to the mountain of skirts and more duly colored formal wear piled around him, this was the brightest, boldest modern dress he’d ever seen her in. </p><p> </p><p>Which is obviously why he hadn’t launched into yet another rant about how she had never and would never owe her mother a damned thing.</p><p> </p><p>It wasn’t revealing, yet somehow it seemed like it should be. The skirt was mid-thigh and therefore irreproachable, though it looked like it had the potential to carry up occasionally. The top portion was of respectable cut, it was not unlike other full shoulder designs she owned and wasn’t cut too low... </p><p> </p><p>But <em>how </em>it fit her was almost sinful.</p><p> </p><p>It fit her waist like a caress and made it seem like it went on for days. It was snug enough in the back and even rode up just slightly to suggest how lovely her backside was. He would be lying to say it didn’t do her justice upstairs either. The entire garment didn’t give away anything, and yet it was entirely suggestive.</p><p> </p><p>So in a way, it was still a huge problem.</p><p> </p><p>Cisco immediately wondered who the hot date was… Out loud.</p><p> </p><p>He was quick to recover. “I mean, sheesh, Cait, you look stunning. Surely this is about more than schmoozing up to the rich and powerful, right?”</p><p> </p><p>Caitlin’s eyes sparkled. “That’s precisely why I’m wondering if it’s too much, Cisco. I’m not much for shmoozing and I didn’t even inquire about a plus one. I just don’t know what else I have that would work for this. Besides,” she walked as she talked, picking up the other earring from the nightstand. “Why would I drag some poor, unfortunate soul to an event where I would just have to talk for them all evening to people who aren’t even really paying attention?”</p><p> </p><p>Paying attention… to her words, and not the way she flipped her hair to get it out of her way while she placed the other earring. </p><p> </p><p>Right. </p><p> </p><p>Yes, that would be terrible. Sometimes it was really hard to be this woman’s best friend, not that he’d trade his spot for anything. </p><p> </p><p>Well, almost anything.</p><p> </p><p>“If these people wanted to get involved in helping with the meta-issues in this city, they could have started long before we had to get all dressed up and attend some expensive dinner,” she huffed, stepping into a pair of shoes to examine in the mirror before taking them off.</p><p> </p><p>He didn’t want to admit how happy he was to hear most of that statement, but he hated that people weren’t jumping more at the idea to help. Without being wined and dined, that is.</p><p> </p><p>“Well, this dress definitely deserves to be worn regardless of the stuffy conditions,” he said as he stood up, gesturing to it. She deserved to feel extravagant and lovely, though she was always all of those things. </p><p> </p><p>“Or company,” he added as an afterthought. “But I am sorry you’re gonna be stuck talking “field expertise” with a bunch of wannabes until they rot your brain with their impractical hypotheses.” He grossed.</p><p> </p><p>She laughed, and he felt incrementally better.</p><p> </p><p>Sadly, none of this implied that she wouldn’t have anyone try to bring her home tonight. He just hoped they were all too insufferable for her to stand, and he couldn’t even bring himself to feel guilty for it.</p><p> </p><p>He tried to focus on finding her suitable outerwear in case there was a chill tonight, then she gasped, eyes wide. </p><p> </p><p>“Cisco…”</p><p> </p><p>“What?” he asked, dragging it out the same way she did. He knew that tone of voice, and it almost always involved him doing something that made him uncomfortable. And inevitably… A pout.</p><p> </p><p>She grabbed for his hands and turned on the charm.</p><p> </p><p>“Will you come with me? Please?”</p><p> </p><p>“Wait. what? Are you serious?”</p><p> </p><p>“Please? I know it’s last minute and it won’t be any fun at all, but at least we won’t be bored there together. Please?”</p><p> </p><p>The face she was giving him alone would convince him to do just about anything. Who could resist those puppy eyes? And… he couldn’t imagine anyone else near her in that dress without getting an ulcer. </p><p> </p><p>There wasn’t much to decide, really.</p><p> </p><p>Then he frowned, remembering what she said earlier. “What about the fact that you didn’t reserve a plus one?”</p><p> </p><p>“I’ll give my mom a call. Trust me, she’ll make it happen if she really wants me there. What do you say?”</p><p> </p><p>He whittled his lip, pretending to think it over. Then he picked up the matching red shoes and set them in front of her with a sigh.</p><p> </p><p>“Sure, Cinderella. I’ll be your date tonight. But the dessert better be worth the entire experience,” he raised an accusing finger her way, “Or you are seriously gonna owe me some star trek when this--” and she caught him in a hug before he could even finish, causing him to chuckle.</p><p> </p><p>“Cisco, you are my hero. Trek time is already guaranteed.”</p><p> </p><p>He tried not to grin like an idiot on his way to go home and get ready.</p><p> </p><p>~~~</p><p> </p><p>Choosing an outfit was agonizing, but luckily he had kept the formal slacks from doing presentations while still in school, and Ralph had made sure he kept at least one nice blazer. He chose a more sensibly patterned shirt underneath and spent an hour styling his hair.</p><p> </p><p>He was happy to say the curls agreed with him, and his shoes were on point.</p><p> </p><p>He headed back over to her place, waiting in the lobby for her to come down and meet him. The car would be here in a few minutes.</p><p> </p><p>He heard the telltale click of heels, and Cisco’s breath caught the second he laid eyes on her.</p><p> </p><p>Her hair was curled immaculately and pinned back on one side, opening up her beautiful profile. Her makeup made her eyes shine like gems and her lips were as red as her dress. And that dress-- it was even better the second time. The matching strappy heels he picked only added to how weak his knees were starting to feel-- she looked phenomenal.</p><p> </p><p>She smiled at him as she made her way down the last few steps, and he almost forgot how to say anything at all.</p><p> </p><p>“Caitlin,” he breathed. “Jesus-- you look fantastic.”</p><p> </p><p>The line wasn’t as debonair as he’d wanted, but all he could think about was how he would be the lucky guy who got to walk in the room with her on his arm. It was like something from a fantasy.</p><p> </p><p>He was rewarded with a thousand-watt smile. “At least one good thing is guaranteed to come from this evening. You clean up pretty nicely yourself, Mr. Ramon.”</p><p> </p><p>They stared at each other for a while, just soaking each other in until the doorman had to inform them that the car had arrived.</p><p> </p><p>He grabbed the door for her, even generously adding a guiding hand to her back as the magic of the evening began.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> ~~~</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Caitlin was in awe. </p><p> </p><p>She quickly decided as they chatted on the way over that Cisco in a suit was absolutely her favorite look of his-- though she thought she had quite a few.</p><p> </p><p>They unloaded in front of the main doors to the convention center, which glowed from within as people made their way to and fro. The steps were covered in similarly dressed people making their way in, having arrived just before they did.</p><p> </p><p>She was pleasantly surprised when he placed a guiding hand at her waist again, as if making sure she knew he was close by to help her navigate the terrain.</p><p> </p><p>He was the picture of calm, offering her an encouraging smile as they made their way closer to the door.</p><p> </p><p>She was startled by how at ease he seemed since these sorts of events always made her nervous. They were her least favorite thing that her mother would make her do growing up.</p><p> </p><p>She turned and leaned in to whisper in his ear. “Have you done this before?”</p><p> </p><p>“Done what?” he asked her with bright eyes, but she detected no nervousness from him. She had no idea he would seem so well suited to the occasion. She should ask him out more often.</p><p> </p><p>“Have you been to many events like these?”</p><p> </p><p>At her questioning gaze, he let loose an uncharacteristically confident smile and he leaned in to answer her in kind. She should <em>definitely </em>ask him out more often.</p><p> </p><p>“Fancy dinners? Just a couple. But I’m mostly just taking cues from how I’ve seen it done in movies.”</p><p> </p><p>This makes an almost inelegant laugh escape her lips, but she restrains herself marginally due to the fact that they’re inside the door, and Cisco is currently providing the tickets the driver supplied.</p><p> </p><p>“Well you deserve an award, you make it look effortless,” she tells him as he escorts her into the main ballroom, and he thanks and returns the compliment in kind while the walls and ceiling open up and the sound of classical music reverberates off the walls.</p><p> </p><p>~~~</p><p> </p><p>“We would also like to recognize Doctor Jonathan Whitlock for his recent groundbreaking studies in the field of nano biomechanics, as it was only the first step into a much bigger world for us as we continue to…”</p><p> </p><p>“Ray and Felicity worked those out years ago,” Cisco whispers to her over his plate.</p><p> </p><p>“Yes, but what the good doctor is lacking is that without being able to mimic the DNA sequence of the patient, the body will still identify them as a foreign hostile substance. Ray and Felicity were smart enough to fix that without even having degrees in this field.”</p><p> </p><p>He watches her over his steak fondly.</p><p> </p><p>“You deserved to go public with more of your findings, Caitlin.”</p><p> </p><p>“I wish I could, but there simply isn’t enough of an explanation for my experience with these issues.” She drops her voice even lower. “I have to think about… Risking everything we do at Star Labs.”</p><p> </p><p>He’s about to say he knows when Dr. Thanhauser clears her throat from a few seats over, jutting her chin to the speaker like the two of them should be paying attention.</p><p> </p><p>Caitlin turns her head towards him so her mother can’t see her face and rolls her eyes as well as she can without giving herself away. Cisco struggles not to grin too wide.</p><p> </p><p>He leans back in his chair, then even closer to her as not to be heard by the crowd. “Well, we'll just have to find some way around that, now won’t we?”</p><p> </p><p>She tries to hide her flush, still so unaccustomed to being on the receiving end of his suave behavior. They applaud the good Doctor as he makes his way to the stage.</p><p> </p><p>~~~</p><p> </p><p>“So you worked for Mercury labs for a while, did you?” The youngest in his Doctoral program, no doubt, questioned Caitlin casually.</p><p> </p><p>“Yes, I did,” Caitlin answered graciously. </p><p> </p><p>“And now you work for… Star Labs, even after everything that happened?”</p><p> </p><p>Caitlin blinks, wondering how she should approach the question.</p><p> </p><p>“Yes, she’s one of the best at our disposal,” Cisco chimes in for her, having just returned from grabbing them both a drink.</p><p> </p><p>“And you work there as well? What’s your name?” The tall, dark-haired gentleman asks him.</p><p> </p><p>“Cisco Ramon. Yes, I do.” He shakes the man's hand and returns to her side, and she nearly starts when he places a hand at the small of her back once again. She regrets not saying yes to more of these dinners over the years. With him all the inconveniences that came with this seemed more manageable... and almost fun. </p><p> </p><p>She kicked herself thinking about all the things they could have tried to do for the company if they had been out here representing more.</p><p> </p><p>“I see. Do you feel that you are effecting enough change to undo the damage that was caused there?”</p><p> </p><p>What? Oh yes, an offensive underhand jab in the conversation.</p><p> </p><p>“That’s precisely where I see the opportunity, Mr. Stanford. Star Labs has had more opportunity through trial and error than any other establishment to study the phenomena of metahuman abilities.” Caitlin supplied.</p><p> </p><p>“Of which they are largely responsible for,” He adds helpfully.</p><p> </p><p>“Which is why it affords the most growth opportunity, Doctor. There are lives at stake, and if we don’t continue our struggle to understand these things, we are certainly only digging the grave further.” Cisco remarked, backing up her opinion. </p><p> </p><p>The gentleman’s assistant chose that time to remind him of another person of interest that he needed to chat with. “I see. Well, I hope to hear good things regarding your ambitions. If you’ll excuse me,” he dismissed.</p><p> </p><p>Caitlin let out a sigh of relief when he left. They had been a part of twenty conversations like that one, with the odd debate thrown in here and there based on the presentations from earlier. She enjoyed how he had handled some of those.</p><p> </p><p>She turned to address Cisco privately. “See why this feels like politics? Changing the general opinion of Star Labs just to gain credibility is tough to do. It’s far more simple to make the findings available to the public and let them see for themselves.”</p><p> </p><p>He’d been a part of shutting down more than a couple of the more ridiculous theories suggested tonight, as she recalled. And he wasn’t even that well versed in these fields. It had been rather impressive. </p><p> </p><p>“Who knew? We should just combine the reputation for Star Labs and the Flash. At least that way we could take measures into our own hands about what they get to know about him, but every now and then he can recommend our studies in a public way. We could look like distant admires, and no one would question the flash as easily as they would us,” he finished with another drink.</p><p> </p><p>“That’s really rolling the dice, though, Cisco.”</p><p> </p><p>He nodded, then turned to set his glass down. </p><p> </p><p>He opened his palm to her. “Alright then, time to take a load off.”</p><p> </p><p>She blinked.</p><p> </p><p>When she asked him to come with her, she didn’t realize he thought she meant they had to dance. </p><p> </p><p>… Not that she was opposed to it.</p><p> </p><p>“Are you sure?”</p><p> </p><p>“Of course,” he frowned. “Come on, these distinguished idiots are giving me a headache.”</p><p> </p><p>She grinned and slipped her hand into his, setting down her drink as he led her out to the floor.</p><p> </p><p>~~~</p><p> </p><p>Twice now she’d been invited to dance with other men, and she’d turned them both down. He tried not to feel overly joyed about it, given how much he figured she just wanted the reprieve.</p><p> </p><p>Or at least he tried to tell himself that, as she leaned into him with an attentive gaze once again after each encounter. </p><p> </p><p>It was becoming a bit difficult not to imagine that she just preferred to dance with him.</p><p> </p><p>They lost track of how many songs they danced to, before they were interrupted yet again by Caitlin’s mother, who this time led more verbal sparring battles directly their way.</p><p> </p><p>Caitlin whispered in his ear how much she already wanted to lose her shoes as he pulled her close again.</p><p> </p><p>Another grueling half-hour, and Dr. Tannhauser finally found herself put out enough to head home for the night.</p><p> </p><p>Cisco very much preferred to go back to dancing.</p><p> </p><p>~~~</p><p> </p><p>Later, on the balcony, when she’d wanted to get away from the crowded room altogether and it was almost time to leave, he came shoulder to shoulder with her where she leaned on the railing.</p><p> </p><p>Out here, no one questioned the red shoes dangling from her fingertips.</p><p> </p><p>He gave her a knowing grin and passed her the last drink she’d requested.</p><p> </p><p>He said cheers and she said ‘we made it’ and they happily toasted.</p><p> </p><p>Caitlin wondered about this amazing night as she watched it all coming to an end, gazing at her best friend as he gazed at the stars...</p><p> </p><p>Was it any wonder that after he agreed to escort her and put all this effort in to look nice… </p><p> </p><p>Stand by her side for hours and speak so eloquently that many people didn’t realize he was disagreeing with them until it was too late...</p><p> </p><p>Had made her giggle through all the boring discussion and slides…</p><p> </p><p>Tolerated her mother’s side-eye…</p><p> </p><p>Treated her like royalty the entire evening…</p><p> </p><p>And swayed with her so romantically earlier… </p><p> </p><p>That she couldn’t help but start to hope that he cared about her maybe even a fraction of how much she cared about him?</p><p> </p><p>It was no secret to her that he was charming and witty and funny in his own unique way, and had more style than any fellow nerd she’d ever met... Not to mention how her life would have been in shambles if she'd never met him…</p><p> </p><p>Or that they seemed to be the perfect matching pair no matter where they went or what situation they found themselves in... always getting along and making each other happy...</p><p> </p><p>So was it truly even a surprise that while ignoring the whole purpose of coming to this party… She strode over to her single best friend of six and a half years and grabbed his face with both hands, finally giving into something she should have done ages ago?</p><p> </p><p>His breath caught, and the shoes he’d volunteered to hold for her clattered to the floor… Neither paid them any mind. His hands were suddenly far too busy.</p><p> </p><p>He flushed scarlet when asked if he'd take her home.</p><p> </p><p>They quite enjoyed the limo ride back as well.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Did I... did I just post that?</p><p>I don't know where most of this came from or how much it really pertains to the show currently, not that I really care. </p><p>You know that they're both always single or about to be in my book.</p><p> </p><p>... Why am I like this?</p><p>Anyway, I've been sitting on this forever and just now found the time and energy to finish it up.</p><p> </p><p>Thoughts while writing...</p><p>I’ve heard it said that being attractive is not about what you don’t have, but what you do with what you do have. </p><p>Does anyone else miss Cisco and his silly flirty behavior and general outgoing and unflappable (mostly.. When he wanted to be) personality? I seriously do. I miss his confidence, and his comfortability in his own skin. That was part of the reason I really wanted to come up with a scenario like this.</p><p> </p><p>P.S. I just might be thinking of a second chapter for this... Let me know if you might like that?</p></blockquote></div></div>
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